A lawyer who represents one of the 15 suspects accused
of plotting to blow up Parliament Hill and offices of
the CBC and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
says politics was behind the decision to stop a
preliminary hearing earlier this week.

The Crown made
the unusual decision on Monday to take the case directly
to trial without fully examining star witness and police
informant Mubin Sheikh.

On Tuesday night, on CBC Radio's As It Happens,
defence lawyer Dennis Edney said the justice process is
being manipulated.

"Mr. Sheikh indicated that some of the accused, both
at the youth level and at the adult level, were innocent
and should not be in the jail system," said Edney.

"We had an opportunity to have Mr. Sheikh … state
that under oath in court, so the judge at the end of the
day could make a determination whether certain of the
accused, if not all of the accused, can go home.… That
has been stopped.

"And it can only lead to a reasonable inference that
there's a political motive in doing so."

Edney also said he has asked a Superior Court judge to
release files from CSIS to shed light on what happened
in the lead up to his client's arrest.

The accused had been facing a preliminary hearing in a
court in Brampton, Ont. — all under a publication ban —
until prosecutors decided to send the case forward.

The 14 adult males and one youth face a number charges
stemming from allegations that they were involved in
militia-style training in the bush north of Toronto, as
well as plotting to blow up hydro installations, the
CSIS and CBC buildings in downtown Toronto.

Police conducted a series of raids in Ontario in June
2006 that led to the arrest of 17 suspects, with an 18th
arrest two months later. Earlier this year charges were
stayed against three of the accused, leaving 15 males
still facing charges.

Prosecutors have only said they are taking this step
in the public interest.